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Okayville

Last week, the kids and I went up north to visit our old stomping grounds.  I hadn't been back since we moved two summers ago, and if I had stopped to think about it, I may have been worried about going back to a place that held such painful memories.  But, that didn't happen.  When we first started the four hour car ride, the kids were very quiet and I could feel their mixed emotions.  But as we got further north and started reminiscing, they started to relax.  By the time we got up north, the kids were so excited to be back in their old home town.  The nostalgia was thick and sweet in the air as we visited all our favorite spots and all the memories seemed to make everything so much richer.  We had a really great time.

As I reflected on how the kids worked through their anxiety I found myself thinking, I think we're going to be okay.  And then I realized, I think we are okay...  Sometimes I'm almost afraid to speak it aloud.  As if it's so fragile or elusive, like a whisper on a wind... and if you try and grab it and hold tight to it, it'll slip right through your fingers.  But that's not true.  We are okay.  We've worked really hard to be okay, and it isn't something fleeting that can be taken away that easily.
Someone once said, "It's gonna be okay... if you look up and it's not okay, just keep going - you're not there yet."   So "okay" became this destination I was striving for.  One foot in front of the other, one day at a time, trusting that this new road would lead me to "okay".  And here we are.  I'm not really sure when we arrived, but I think we've been here for a while now.  "Okay" is a great place to be.  "Okay" is not perfect; it's not without troubles and hard times... but it is filled with grace, joy, peace, love, support, and new beginnings - all the things you need to make it through the hard times.

So, we'll just keep on keeping on here in Okayville, celebrating the fact that life goes on.






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